<p>Collegechica, you mad tho?</p>
<p>No, not at all. I just wished my alma mater would start gaming the system in the same fashion.</p>
<p>I wonder if there are also similar stats that indicate the typical h.s. school is now applying to more colleges then 10 yrs ago? The # of h.s. students graduating each year is probably available using census data and X% of them apply to college. Applying to 15+ schools is also part of the problem.</p>
<p>I’m stuck on the waitlist for both University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins. These were my only 2 reach schools. =( Otherwise I’m heading to a in-state public school… at least I’ll save money.</p>
<p>@Time2 - I don’t think you have to go back 10 years to find a significant increase. I would suspect only 4 or 5. I’ve seen posters who went through the process a few years ago attest to this.</p>
<p>I applied to 9 schools and was waitlisted at 7 of them: Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, and (of course) UChicago. </p>
<p>Being on a waitlist is frustrating and exhausting. Instead of being excited for college, I spent the last month preparing additional materials to send to colleges that have waitlisted close to or more than 1,000 applicants each and will accept (in UChicago’s case at least) 0 of them. The size of waitlists and the sheer existence of “extended waitlists” are abominations. The hope is torture.</p>
<p>collegechica7 is so correct about UChicago. They went aggressively around the country, especially to many high schools that they know are feeders for the ivies, knowing that the top students will just use UChicago as a safety, but a great boost for UC’s ranking. Next year it is going to be even harder for students with yield protection among many top schools.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. My son did not apply to UC but many of his peers did. The day RD results came out, there was quite a bit of grumbling in class. There were at least 7 top notched kids waitlisted and they were eventually accepted by Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia,etc. A student accepted by MIT EA was outright rejected. They did accept one girl who was considered below average in their class. At that time, I did tell my son perhaps this girl had amazing ECs they did not know about. What Ana1 said was true though. These 7 kids who were waitlisted would not have gone to UC if accepted. </p>
<p>For the record, he is in one of the top STEM HS in the country. About 1/3 of the graduating class this year will be attending an Ivy or top 10.</p>
<p>If you apply to enough schools and are a strong candidate, you can set the wait list schools aside mentally and focus on choosing among the schools that accepted you. Now, you do have the option even if you accept to another school to change your mind if you are accepted off of a wait list. I am not suggesting that that be done lightly. What I am suggesting is that you focus on the schools you were accepted to and pick the best one for you. If it gets too late and you have to commit, commit to the best match of the schools that accepted you. Then, if you truly and strongly prefer a school you were waitlisted on and they accept you, you can send your regrets and sincere thanks to the school you first accepted. But, consider whether you were waitlisted because it wasn’t the best match for you in the first place. There is merit in considering going to a school that accepted you outright because they thought you were a good match. The school my son had his heart set on did accept him, but he found out later at college visits that another school was a better match for his personality despite the first school being awesome. I simply wouldn’t count on the wait lists at all. Know there is a slight chance you can get in and go with a school that accepted you. Now, there is an exception. If you are willing to make a case for yourself by contacting the school and expressing your intense interest in going to the school, offering them more evidence of you being a good fit, such as another project done since applications, updated grades, a reference from an alum, etc., the fact that you made the effort and took initiative could make a difference and put you to the front of the line. Just do it with happiness and enthusiasm rather than desperation and resentment or a sense of defeat. And, don’t harass students who have said on forums that they probably will not attend the one you are waitlisted on. They still have till the deadline and they need their time to pick from the ones that accepted them. Bide your time and let them decide but position yourself to be a good candidate to be accepted in the committee’s collective mind.</p>
<p>D was waitlsted for ND - she sent in card and supplemental info and though we are full pay (requested no FA), we’ve not heard a thing. It doesnt matter now though as she has committed to USC which does not use a waitlst (or ED/EA) They offer “Spring” admission to 1000 students (8500 Fall admits offered) and then bump up the Spring admits if there is room - my D was bumped to Fall 10 days ago. Maybe USC should use a waitlist though because its clear they offered a large number of “appeal” admits to both the fall and spring terms in certian majors where it appears they fell short (read the USC appeal thread). I think going to the Common App and the huge number of applicants has thrown many admissions depts off their game.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard anything about swarthmore waitlist? Has anyone heard from swarthmore?</p>
<p>I wonder if all those kids applying to U Chicago ever visited there, or just applied on the basis of recruiting brochures and so-called “prestige”? We did visit UC - and UGH - it was simply horrendous. The neighborhood is scary dangerous; I believe it sets a record for the number of “blue phones” on campus. While we were on a tour, someone got their laptop stolen out of the library when she left for two minutes to use the bathroom. And my daughter described the students she met there as “elitist nerd snobs.” </p>
<p>After visiting she didn’t even WANT to apply.</p>
<p>Will schools tell you if they utilize the wait list and if you are not chosen ? For example, I’m waiting to hear from Fordham and University of Miami. Rumor has it both have gone to their waitlist. Any conformation ?</p>
<p>@ Journier
Superb post!!! (Where is my Like button?)</p>
<p>My son is a HS junior and from all the anectdotal evidence I have gathered locally here in PA and from close friends in Tampa, FL and suburban NYC (each with HS senior and another student currently in college) the bottom line is wait lists at “highly selective” schools are longer than ever this year and your chances of being taken off the waitlist are less than the chances of winning Powerball lottery. Apply to your reaches but make sure you truly will be satisfied at your ‘safety’ schools. When you receive all your decisions, select a school you were accepted at and move ahead.</p>
<p>On Sunday night we attend the roadshow of Harvard/Penn/Stanford/Duke/Georgetown here in Philly. One of the questions asked to the panel by a student was “What if I was WL at your schoool, what are my chances of getting accepted?” He was politely and very firmly told that he should commit to one of the schools he was already accepted at. Period.</p>
<p>“someone got their laptop stolen out of the library when she left for two minutes to use the bathroom”</p>
<p>That was a very foolish thing to do, and it’s equally foolish at a college in the cornfields. Neighborhood folks can’t enter the library at U of C. A stolen laptop was taken by a fellow student or a staff member, and all schools have those.</p>
<p>I’m speaking as someone who had a formal dress stolen off the dorm-laundry clothesline at a tiny college with a vaunted honor code located in an exclusive all-white suburb. It’s a big mistake to think the neighborhood has anything to do with that sort of thing.</p>
<p>When I found out I was on Wake Forest’s waitlist, I didn’t even accept my place. It was such a reach to begin with, so few students get off of it, and it wasn’t my top choice. To quote the Bible: “let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” I didn’t feel like waiting around for a few more months.</p>